


With My Body

by WldCatSprStr_14



Series: Five Rings [5]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-22
Updated: 2011-12-22
Packaged: 2017-10-27 18:11:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/298602
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WldCatSprStr_14/pseuds/WldCatSprStr_14
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Leon will always do his duty.</p>
            </blockquote>





	With My Body

**Author's Note:**

> Unbeta'd Written for Day 19 of [](http://adventchallenge.livejournal.com/profile)[**adventchallenge**.](http://adventchallenge.livejournal.com/).

Leon remembers when Arthur was new to this. New to the world of sweat and grunts and the sweet ache of knowing that you’ve given everything you could. New to the sight of a man looking up at you, wide-eyed, panting, and trembling with exhaustion. New to this world of men slaking their lust in the company of other men. Seeking them out, not just falling into their arms at the end of a long day or a grueling campaign.

That’s where Arthur started. Barely a man, the few scruffy hairs on his lip standing out in that meager and defiant way that can only be managed by a boy who thinks he has everything to prove and who will grasp at any sign that he is worthy. Leon remembers finding him after the skirmish, on his knees at the edge of the clearing, his bright blue eyes staring blankly into the dead ones of the man that lay at his feet.

Leon had planted his own body between Arthur and the terrible truth of what it meant to be a leader of men, taken the bloody sword from the Prince’s tight grip, and led him away from the sight that would haunt him for the rest of his life. He remembers leading him back to the horses, placing Arthur atop his own, and riding back to Camelot with the sensation of Arthur’s barely-contained tremors muffled against his armour.

Leon doesn’t remember the lie that he told the King to stop him from going to see his son but he remembers the vice grip that Arthur kept on his arm as he explained everything to Gaius and the way his heart had almost broken at the sound of terror that the Prince had let out when he’d tried to pull away.

Most of all, he remembers the knock on his door that night, the feel of Arthur’s lips on his, so clumsy and determined, and the taste of tears that accented every one of them. He doesn’t remember if it was just Arthur who had cried, or if he had shed tears too, but he thinks the shock he’d felt when Arthur had pressed against him, hard and desperate to fill the hollow place in his chest with _something_.

It had never occurred to Leon not to say ‘yes.’ The love that he’d had for Arthur then was stronger than he felt for anyone else and had only grown over the years. But the sound of Arthur’s pleading— _Please. I need you. Take care of me._ —had caused even the nonexistent doubts to vanish.

It had been years since Leon had been a part of Arthur’s world in that way, but Leon understood. Leon was sad in that bittersweet way that only a man who had done his very best could be. But he could only continue loving Arthur. Leon would always be there to counsel him and steer him right but he knew the man that Arthur had become would rarely need even that from him. Because that man had Merlin and it hadn’t taken Leon long to realize that any hollow place inside Arthur would now quickly be filled with one of Merlin’s smiles.

So Leon would serve, in whatever way he could. He would stand, ready and waiting for Arthur to tell him that he was needed.

And when his King comes to him, smiling and _happy_ again after much too long, and asks him to serve, Leon will just nod, strip down and climb into bed at the service of a man that he can’t help having grown quite fond of. He will stroke Merlin’s pale skin and kiss his lush mouth. He will let himself enjoy it. He will serve.

~FIN~


End file.
